Gold barely moves as traders turn their attention to US jobs data

Bengaluru — Gold prices were little changed on Thursday, following a more than 1% jump in the previous session, as investors awaited more data to gauge the health of the US economy.

Spot gold was steady at $1,498.91/oz, as of 4.10am GMT, while US gold futures were down 0.2% at $1,504.80/oz. 

The precious metal jumped 1.4% on Wednesday after disappointing hiring by US private employers unnerved investors already concerned about slowing growth in the world’s largest economy.

“Gold is clearly being used as a hedge against volatility in other markets,” said Oanda analyst Jeffrey Halley.

“With negative investor sentiment on global growth and trade and the meltdown in equity markets overnight, we saw a flight to safe havens.”

The jobs data comes ahead of the more comprehensive US nonfarm payrolls report due on Friday and added to the gloom prompted by a survey that showed manufacturing activity in the US tumbled to a more than 10-year low in September.

The disappointing readings weighed on the dollar, which hit near one-week lows against the euro and yen.